The OSI serves as an international nexus of trust, protecting and promoting open source software as well as the communities that develop and depend on it. Since 1998, the OSI has brought together open source developers, organizers, contributors, advocates, and businesses around the common goal of creation through collaboration.

Our membership program is dedicated to furthering this vision.

Why join the OSI…

Membership provides several benefits to any person or group who’d like to support and give back to the open source software movement.

As well as standard member benefits such as free and discounted books, magazines, conference registration fees, and other training materials, as a member-driven organization OSI individual members can vote for OSI board directors and even run for a seat.

In addition to governance, individual members are invited to participate directly in the growth of open source software by creating or joining OSI-sponsored working groups and incubator projects in various areas of open source advocacy and adoption. These working groups and projects serve as resources for the entire open source community.

The OSI also regularly provides small grants to OSI members and working group participants to attend local conferences to represent your project and the OSI, with the goal of educating others about open source software. This is a great way to not only attend a conference of interest, but to also meet peers working on related projects, software, and technologies from across the community. The OSI has sent representatives to events focusing on open source community management, open source in education, open source legal issues, open source in supercomputing, and more.

As well as the benefit of associating your organization with OSI, your affiliate membership allows your organization to participate in the process of defining the future means by which OSI achieves its mission, both by joining in discussions about proposed changes and policies and by guiding the selection of members of its Board of Directors.

Being an OSI member is a great way to get directly involved in open source community development and advocacy. Don't think of this as helping just one open source project—think about helping all open source projects!

While the member benefits and opportunity to create community help to attract open source advocates to join the OSI, as a public benefit organization, we maintain an active constituency—a vibrant community that recognizes the OSI's role and value in the sector, creates trust throughout the open source community, credibility among professional organizations and business, and credibility among policy makers. The OSI is often contacted by individuals, projects, businesses, and even governments to provide opinions on, and best practices for, a variety of issues related to open source licensing, development, and community building, from business and community development to current and proposed law.

The OSI has submitted amici curiae ("friend of the court" briefs) to the U.S. Supreme Court, consulted with industries in the adoption/development/release of open source software, weighed in on government policy, and served as an intermediary among community members to resolve open source related issues.

Only with a strong and active member base can we continue in our role as the internationally recognized nexus of trust, the foundation for, and authority in open source software. In brief, the Open Source Initiative needs your support to support open source.

If this sounds like you or your organization, we invite you to join today.

If you’re not involved with any of these projects, but you use open source software, love it, and want to give back to the community, we’d be honored to help you accomplish that goal through our work and your membership.